Lewis Hamilton closing in on two unwanted records in final four races

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Lewis Hamilton will have two personal goals heading into the final four races of the season to avoid a couple of unwanted individual records. It’s been a season to forget for Mercedes and Hamilton in particular.

While George Russell would have expected to jump into Mercedes and immediately start fighting for race wins, Hamilton has long been accustomed to doing just that. After a challenging first season at Mercedes back in 2013 where he won just one race and finished fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, Hamilton spent the ensuing years cementing his legacy as one of the most successful drivers in F1 history.

He was in a league of his own up until last year when Red Bull finally gave Max Verstappen a car capable of pushing him all the way. But Mercedes have been unable to continue their dominance into the new era of F1 after a raft of regulation changes in 2022.

A bold chassis design raised everyone’s eyebrows before the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this year, but it proved to be in vain as both Ferrari and Red Bull appeared to get things right. Mercedes have been playing catch-up all year long with Hamilton clearly frustrated at not being able to challenge for race wins.

Focus has already turned to next year’s car and returning to the front of the grid. But Hamilton has a couple of reasons to remain fully focused on the final four races.

The 37-year-old holds an incredible record of winning at least one race in every season he’s competed in F1. That is in serious jeopardy of coming to an end this year with just four races remaining and Mercedes seemingly not any closer to finding that elusive win.

Hamilton will also have one eye on the Drivers’ Championship as he currently sits sixth in the standings. The British racing superstar has never finished lower than fifth in the championship.

He stands a good chance of keeping that record before the season ends though as he’s just 22 points behind Carlos Sainz. Team-mate Russell is a further five points adrift, putting more emphasis on Hamilton finishing ahead of his team-mate in the final four races.

Hamilton will fancy his chances of getting off to a good start at the United States Grand Prix, where he has won a record six times. The Brit also holds good records at both the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, potentially giving him an edge over his rivals.

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